Unexpected Visitors
by Laura Ann Yates
Summary: Meredith has to move into the loft with Castle/Beckett. Post s6 - AU from after Beckett accepts Castle's proposal.
1. Chapter 1

**_This will hopefully be a new multichapter, which I will attempt to update every Wednesday or Thursday but don't be surprised if it is longer between chapters as not only am I just terrible at updating regularly but I have just started uni which is quite demanding._**

**_UPDATE: There are no major changes to this, but I altered my timeline slightly so James was 5, instead 2 like I originally planned him to be. I also just altered some sentence that didn't look right when I re-read them. It's not esential that you re-read this though._**

* * *

**_CHAPTER ONE_**

"Meredith, wh-what are you doing here?" To say Castle was surprised when his first ex-wife turned up on their doorstep would be an understatement.

"I'm here to see you and Alexis of course." Her tone tells him otherwise.

"You do know Alexis is studying abroad in Peru this year don't you? We both left you dozens of messages." How could she forget? How could she call herself a mother when she doesn't even know where her daughter is?

"Of course I do. I thought she wou-" Meredith is cut short as screams of "Daddy!" can be heard emitting from a small boy with his father's eyes as he runs across to the door from the foot of the stairs and collides with the back of Castle's legs, causing him to fall back and land with an "Oomph" on the floor behind his father.

"What are you doing down there little man?" Castle spreads his legs a little and bends at the waist to peer through the gap at his son, who is still sat on the floor, starring up at his father.

"He's playing hard to get." Meredith snaps her head towards the fourth voice, her eyes narrowing as she spies Kate Beckett walk out of Castle's office, dressed in what were obviously Castle's clothes, judging from the way they hung from her petite frame, a pair of small pyjamas clutched in her right hand, leaving her engagement and wedding ring on display for all to see on her left hand.

"You're still here then?" She directs her question at the brunette.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Beckett replies as she takes James from Castle. Disappearing back into the office and then into their bedroom, she makes a mental note to ask Castle about Meredith's appearance at their door at such a late hour.

"Are you not going to invite me in?" The smile on her face is as large as it could be, making it clear that she is enjoying this.

"Not if he has any sense." Comes Martha's voice from behind Meredith. She pushes past the red-head and heads straight for the kitchen in search of alcohol. God knows she needs it if her son's first ex-wife is here.

"Nice to see you too." Martha doesn't acknowledge the comment as she moves about the kitchen, an air of flamboyance surrounding her.

Meredith uses the moment of distraction to push her way past Castle and into the living room, draping her coat over the back of an armchair. "Listen, Richard." He winces as he hears her voice. He knows that tone, she'd used it on him one too many times, and she's playing the sweet, innocent victim once again in order to get her own way. "I need a place to stay for a few days."

He knew it. There was no way he would put his family through that again, not now that he and Beckett were married. Not now they had James. "Not a chance Meredith."

"Richard, it will only be for a few days, you won't even know I'm here." She attempts to build her case, aware that he has raised his defences.

"I said no." He will not allow her to use him like this again.

"Castle." He winces as he hears the tone in his wife's voice. "She can stay. No longer than a week." She directs the last part at a smug looking Meredith, exiting the bedroom with a sleepy James in her arms. Not bothering to divert her attention from her son, she heads straight for the stairs to take him to his room for the night.

Leaving the two red-heads downstairs, Castle follows his wife and son upstairs, not willing to break their routine, despite their unexpected guest.

Half an hour later, the couple walk out of what used to be Alexis' old room to see Meredith just reaching the top of the stairs. "Why is he in there? Isn't that Alexis' room?"

"Was. She lives with Pi in my old apartment now; she gave her room to James." Beckett tells her, slipping her arm around Castle's waist, her hand coming to rest in the back pocket of his trousers, silently telling Meredith to keep her claws to herself.

"And who is Pi?" She asks, once again proving to the pair how much of a mother she really is.

"Her boyfriend. You should know that by the way." She knows all this is uncalled for but despite the truce they formed last time she visited while Alexis had mono, she had never gotten along a hundred percent with her husband's first ex-wife, or his second now she thought about it. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're heading to bed. You can have the spare room for the duration of your stay; clean sheets are in the drawers under the bed."

"You're heading to bed now? It's only just gone 8pm. And what do you mean sheets are under the bed?" Do they really expect her to make her own bed?

"I mean exactly what I said. And yes, we are. We're not changing our routine just for you."

* * *

"Really Richard? What is she still doing here?" Comes Martha's voice from the bottom of the stairs the following morning.

"I said she could stay." Beckett speaks up, quickly adding "No longer than a week." To slightly appease her mother-in-law.

"Really Katherine? Now why would you do that? You know she is only trouble for this family." Martha cannot say she is surprised, it's the sort of person Katherine Beckett is.

"I don't want any arguments. I've given her a few ground rules and told her that if she upsets me or my family in any way that I will have her arrested for wasting police time."

"You can do that?" A slight look of glee crosses the older woman's face at the thought of Meredith being in a cell for the night.

"Of course I can. I'm Captain now." She smiles widely before finishing the last of her coffee. "Speaking of which, we better get going. Martha, are you still ok to watch James today?"

"Of course I am dear. You go catch some criminals, while me and this little terror head down to the museum." She smiles affectionately at the scowl on her grandson's face.

"I'm not a terror. I'm a super hero" He claims before running after his parents to say goodbye before they left for the day.

Beckett lifts her son into her embrace and whispers "I love you monkey." in his ear.

"Love you mummy. Love you daddy."

* * *

**I have a mini sort of timeline worked out so if you would like to see it for everything to make sense a little more then just drop me a message.**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

"And what am I supposed to do for the day, just entertain myself?" Meredith claimed, standing from her seat at the breakfast bar and making her way to where the couple stood in the doorway, James still in his mother's embrace. _How dare this woman waltz into his life and push her out, she was here first._

"Of course, just stay away from my son." With that, she put James back on his feet, smiling as he made a bee-line for his room, and the pair turned to leave the loft and head to the precinct. After only two steps, Beckett turned on her heel and asked "Why are you in New York in the first place?"

"I'm here for a movie. We're shooting in New York for a few months and the accommodation I had lined up fell through at the last minute." The red-head replied, still stood in the doorway.

"Well just make sure you have another place by the end of the week."

Back in the loft, Martha made her way to get ready for a day with her grandson, leaving Meredith stood alone in the loft, processing the events of the morning so far. Glancing at the phone held in her hand, she made her way upstairs to prepare for long day of film making.

* * *

"Just why did you let Meredith stay with us?" The question had been burning at his brain since last night.

"Because I knew that if I didn't, she would either manipulate her way in anyway or just make our lives hell. I wanted to keep the peace." One of the many reasons why he loves her; despite Meredith's countless flaws, Beckett is still willing to accept that she is a part of their dysfunctional family.

"You didn't have to you know; she is perfectly capable of staying at the four seasons and I'm pretty sure that she will end up there for however long she's in New York for."

"I know, but she's Alexis' mother and I don't want any bad blood between us."

"You're too nice sometimes you know that? You should have gone all bad-ass Beckett on her. That would have been so hot by the way." His comment triggered an eye roll from her as she pulled into the parking garage of the 12th.

* * *

"Ready Gram." James exclaimed as he came bounding down the stairs to greet Martha in the kitchen, an hour after his parent's departure.

"Well then Kiddo, let's go hunt some dinosaurs." She took his hand and together they waltzed out of the loft and headed down to the town car waiting for them out on the street.

"Can we go see mummy and daddy at lunch time and take them out for food?"

"I don't see why not. A family meal is something we don't get to have as often as would be nice." Martha wraps an arm around her grandson and before they know it, the driver is pulling the car up outside of the grand building that holds the natural history museum. Jumping out of the car, the elder woman guides the young boy between the columns and through the front doors. Once tickets had been purchased, the two headed straight for his favourite exhibit; the dinosaurs.

* * *

Lunch time soon comes around, and as the clock strikes 12pm, Martha and James leave the museum and head for the 12th precinct. Upon arrival, security carry out their usual checks before allowing them up to the fourth floor in search of Castle and Beckett.

The ping of the elevator alerts the pair to the arrival of the cart to their floor, but various officers, detectives and personnel leaving and entering the homicide department being a regular occurrence, neither look up from their activities, Beckett continuing with her paper work while Castle sits beside her playing Plants Vs. Zombies on his phone.

"Mummy!" James screams as soon his parents come into his line of sight. At the outburst, Castle and Beckett divert their attention to the blur heading their way, smiles covering their faces as they recognise the face of their son. Standing from her seat, Beckett goes to meet him half way, swinging up into her embrace before he collides with her legs.

"Hello you." She plants a sloppy, loving kiss to his cheek, giggling slightly as he attempts to squirm away from her. "And what are you doing here? I thought you and Gram were going dinosaur hunting."

"We did. We found a Barosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Stegosaurus and a Apatosaurus and a Deinonychus and a Triceratops and a-" Before he could name every species the museum housed, Martha slipped a hand over his mouth, making the adults laugh slightly as he crossed his eyes and frowned at the older woman's hand.

"How about we just stick to saying we found lots of dinosaurs, ey Kiddo? I'm sure your parents know what kinds are at the museum."

A mumble could be heard coming from the small boy as he replied with "I'm pretty sure daddy knows more about them than the people who work there."

"Well it sounds like you had fun. "

Beckett quickly glanced back at desk, conscious of the sensitive photos she had been looking at before the arrival of her son, not wanting to expose him to the evil in the world while he was still young and innocent. Noting the flick of her eyes, Martha decided to speak up so as not to worry Castle or James. "How about we all go out for lunch?"

"That would be great mother. I was just trying to persuade Kate to break for lunch."

"You were not; you were playing plants vs. zombies." Beckett raises her eyebrows in his direction.

"Ok fine, I was. Now lunch?" He holds her coat up behind her as she slips it on, before taking her hand and following his mother and son towards the precinct elevator.

* * *

As Castle takes the last bite of his burger, the shrill ring of a phone interrupts their lunch. "Beckett." After a few seconds of silence with all eyes on her, she replies to dispatch with "Ok, we're on our way."

"Body drop?" Castle asks, grabbing a few bills from his wallet to give to his mother for lunch.

She nods her head at him before turning to her son. "Hey monkey, mummy and daddy have to go back to work now, ok?"

"You go catch the bad guys?" The look of innocence on his face makes her heart melt.

"Yeah, we go catch the bad guys. I love you."

"Love you too mummy. And you daddy." He reaches out and wraps his small arms around her neck.

* * *

Pulling up outside of Times Square Studios, the pair make their way over to Ryan and Esposito. "What do we got boys?"

"White male, 52, names Steven Arbanas. He was the director for Danger Zone, a new film they're shooting here in New York." Esposito replied.

"You're going to love who we found standing over the body with the murder weapon in her hand." Ryan said, leading the way to the body.

"Who?" This intrigued Beckett, not only was it rare for them to find the murderer stood over the body, but this sounded like it was someone they knew.

"See for yourself."

Castle and Beckett rounded the corner to see a tall, pale skinned woman with ginger hair stood with her back to them.

The woman turned on her heel, the writer and his muse instantly recognising her. "Meredith!?"


	3. Chapter 3

**I know it's not as long as the last 2 chapters but I wanted to get this up tonight. I promise I will try and keep on top of updates more.**

**UPDATE: I'm SO sorry for the confusion, I really have no excuses. I've looked it through and fixed it but if you guys see anything else that seems off please tell me and I will fix it.**

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE:**

"Miss Harper, do you understand why you're here?" Beckett addressed the red-head as she entered interrogation room 1, Meredith's file in her hand.

"Because you're jealous of me? First you take my husband, and now you're after, what? My job?" A scoff escapes Beckett as she flings the file onto the table and sits in the chair opposite her.

"First of all, he divorced you long before I even met him, and secondly, I am perfectly happy being a cop thank you very much. Now, you were found standing over Mr Arbanas' body holding what we believe to be the murder weapon, is that correct?" She keeps her face clear of all emotions. Despite her being Captain now, she cannot give Meredith any leverage.

"Yes, but I didn't kill him." Meredith smirks. "You can check my hands for ballistics or whatever it is you do."

"And we are." She refers back to her notes. "Why were you in the office?"

"I was told to collect my prop gun from his office before I went to shoot the scene. I was just doing as I was told."

"The guns used in films aren't real guns meaning they're not as heavy, didn't it strike you as odd that the gun you picked up was heavy? Or that we cops don't use silencers, whereas this one did?" She takes a photo from the file and slides them across to her; the photo shows the gun used to kill Steve Arbanas, the gun they found in the hands of Meredith. Beckett then un-holsters her own gun and places it on the table in front of her, out of Meredith's reach but placed so she can see it, and compare it to the one in the picture.

"Ok, so maybe I shouldn't have picked it up, but I'm not a cop, I don't know these things."

"What about the hole in his head? Did that not seem odd to you?"

"I didn't have time to think it odd before the producer, Harriet Wells, showed up and called you guys."

"Do you have any idea who would want to do this?"

"No. I hadn't even heard of the guy before my agent called me with this role. I wouldn't normally take roles with crew I don't know, but things have been slow lately so I took the job."

Before Beckett could ask another question, there was a knock at the door and Esposito stuck his head in. "Yo Beckett, ballistics are back." She stands and holsters her gun before following him outside. "The gun found with Meredith matches the bullet found in Arbanas, but there was no residue on Meredith. She's clear."

Re-entering the interrogation room, Beckett collects the contents of the file together before she takes the cuffs off of Meredith and tells her "You're free to go."

Beckett strides over to her desk and drops the file onto the surface. "Let's pull his financial and phone records, see if anything pops." She glances at her father's watch and sees that it is already 6pm. "Do it first thing. Let's head home."

Not needing to be told twice, Ryan and Esposito collect their things together and head home, Castle and Beckett not far behind them.

* * *

"Mummy! Daddy!" James abandons his game of Mario kart and rushes over to greet his parents. Castle swoops down and lifts the boy into his arms before he can collide with either of them. "Did you catch the bad guy?"

"Not yet buddy. We will do soon though." Castle plants a kiss on the boy's cheek before setting him down on the floor so he can follow his wife's actions and remove his own coat. As soon as James' feet connect with the ground, he speeds off back towards the TV where he picks up the Wii control and continues with his game.

Once his coat is in the closet, Castle makes his way to the kitchen where he finds Beckett leaning against the counter making them both a cup of coffee. He wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her backwards into his chest. He starts to pepper kisses from her jaw, down her neck, and across her shoulder. She lets a groan escape her lips at the feelings of his lips against her skin.

"Little eyes" she whispers to him, not wanting to get too caught up while their five-year-old is still in the room.

He drops his head to her shoulder with a groan before he moves away and goes in search of something for dinner. After they've all eaten, Castle loads the dishwasher while Beckett takes James upstairs for a bath.

"When is Lexi coming to play again?" James asks his mother as he splashes in the water.

"I'm sorry baby, but you know Lexi is studying abroad this year. She won't be back for another 6 months." She hates to disappoint him, but she can't exactly ask Alexis to hop on a plane home to play with him for a few hours and then go back.

"But I want to play with Lexi now." He moans, slamming his hands down in the water causing it to splash over the side of the tub and soak not only the floor but Beckett too.

"Are you trying to drown mummy?" Castle asks his son, entering the bathroom with James' pyjamas in his hand.

"He wants Alexis to come round and play with him. I've told him she can't but he's not interested." Beckett tells him, patting him on the shoulder as she leaves the bathroom to change into some dry clothes. "I'm going to get dry, can you finish his bath?"

He nods at her as he approaches the bath. "Come on monkey, cheer up. Alexis will be home before you know it and then you can play with her all you want." He tries to comfort his son, knowing there is nothing much that he can do. "Look, Alexis calls us every day about an hour or two after you go to bed, how about when she calls I wake you up and you can talk to her on the phone?"

"Ok." James mumbles, obviously disappointed. Castle knows it is nothing compared to bringing Alexis back to New York, but despite him having the money to do so, he cannot do that to his daughter.

* * *

"James, wake up monkey, Alexis is on the phone." At the mention of Alexis' name, the small boy shoots up in bed, almost as if he hadn't gone to sleep at all. Beckett smiles affectionately at her son as she hands the phone over to him. He presses the phone to his ear as she slips onto the bed behind him, pulling him into her embrace.

"LEXI!" He screams down the phone. "I miss you."

_"I miss you too buddy."_

"When are you coming home?" He knows the answer will not differ from that of his mother's earlier; 6 months.

_"Not for another 6 months."_

"But that's too long." He moans.

_"I know, but it will fly by, and I already have lots of presents for you when I get home. 6 months is plenty of time to get you lots more."_

"You got me presents?" Beckett squeezes him tighter.

_"Of course I did. How about I mail a couple over for you? And give you the rest when I get back?"_

"Ok. Thank you Lexi."

_"Hey, no worries. Now how about you get some sleep? It's way past your bedtime."_

"Ok, night Lexi"

_"Night James."_


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4:**

With James getting ready to spend the day at kindergarten, and Castle and Beckett getting ready to spend the day catching killers, the Castle household at 7am on a Monday morning is a busy one. On this particular day, the three can be found in the kitchen making pancakes for breakfast as they laugh at their failed attempts at flipping the treats. Martha glides down the stairs after being woken by their laughter and stops dead in her tracks as she takes in the scene before her. Beckett is stood by the counter by the stove with batter coating her face and arms, a large smile on her face. Castle is stood by the stove flipping pancakes, dropping the majority of them as his wife and son laugh at his attempts. James is sat on the counter in front of Beckett with chocolate covering his face as his laughter tears through the room.

A knock at the door puts a stop to the fun as they all turn their heads in the direction of the disturbance. Castle puts the pan back onto the stove and moves towards the door. "Morning George." He smiles at the doorman stood before him.

"Good morning Mr Castle." He nods back at the writer. "There's a parcel arrived for you downstairs, the delivery guy needs your signature."

He turns back to his family and tells them "I'll be back." in a menacing voice, attempting to imitate Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, only serving to make his family laugh.

Not five minutes later he re-enters the loft "James, present for you."

Beckett lifted James off of the counter and watched as he ran over to Castle jumping up to try and snatch the parcel which his father was holding just out of his reach. Shaking her head, she begins to walk over to them "Stop teasing him and give him the parcel." At his wives words Castle hands the parcel over and smirks in amusement as the small boy sits on the floor where he and his father stand by the door and begins to tear the brightly coloured paper from the parcel.

"Mummy look, Lexi sent me t-shirts." He grabs one of the shirts and holds it up to show her.

"Very nice. Are you going to read the letter she sent you as well?" She replies, kneeling down beside him and picking up the paper that had fallen from the package.

"Daddy read it to us!" James takes the letter from Beckett and hands it over to his father who clears his throat dramatically before beginning to read:

_Hello James._

_I'm missing you SO much. I wish my favourite little boy was here with me, but the next 6 months will fly by I'm sure. Anyway, you have mommy and daddy there to keep you entertained until I'm back. You just make sure that your father behaves himself._

"Hey, I behave myself." Castle interrupts his reading, trying to defend himself. "Ok, not always." He adds as he watches his wife raise her eyebrows.

_I've taken loads of pictures for you and I we can look at them together when I get home. I hope you like your new t-shirts, when I saw them I couldn't not buy them for you. You be a good boy for mommy and daddy and I will see you in 6 months._

_Love Alexis._

"Alexis is home?" The three of them turn their heads towards the stairs to find Meredith stood the bottom of them.

"We told you before, not for another 6 months. She's sent James some t-shirts." Beckett replies before she gets to her feet and lifts her son into her arms. "Now if you'll excuse us, I have to get James ready for kindergarten and we have to get ready for work."

"Ricky as well? I was kind of hoping he would take me shopping today." Meredith says, twirling a piece of her hair around her finger.

"You're a big girl Meredith, I'm sure you can manage by yourself." Sending a glare towards the red-head, Beckett brushes past her and heads up the stairs.

* * *

"What have you got for me boys?" Beckett asks, heading over to Ryan and Esposito once she has shed her coat and her bag by her desk.

"2 weeks ago a deposit of $800,000 was made into Arbanas' account. We traced the money back to an off-shore account in the Cayman Islands." Esposito replies, handing over a sheet of paper, the deposit highlighted for her to see.

"You know who owns the account?" She asks, glancing down to the paper in her hands.

"Carlos Bandini." Beckett snaps her head up as soon as the name leaves his lips.

"Who's Carlos Bandini?" Castle asks, coming up behind her with a cup of coffee for them both.

Beckett takes the coffee from him as she begins to talk "He's a loan shark, usually not a big deal, only this one has connections to the Italian mafia."

"The mafia? I knew I would be right one of these days." Castle's face is one of glee, while the three detectives just stand there staring at him, their expressions blank. "What kind of connections?"

"His father, Salvatore, is the head of the Abrache, most notorious mafia here in New York. We've been trying for years to bring them down." Ryan explains.

"Captain, CSU report." LT appears behind them and hands her a file.

After skimming the words on the pages, Beckett looks back up at Ryan and Esposito "Other than Meredith's, CSU found only one other set of prints on the gun, belonging to Carlos' right hand man, Jimmy Veale." She glances back at the report "They also found a recorder connected to Arbanas' phone line. Tech have gone through it and reported that Carlos and Arbanas had a pretty heated conversation 2 days ago." She reads aloud the transcript provided.

_Carlos: "I want my money back"_

_Arbanas: "I don't have the money right now, you'll have to wait until the film is done and I get the profits"_

_Carlos: "If I don't have it within 24 hours, there will be a bullet in your skull"_

"Let's go pick them up." Esposito says as both he and Ryan stand and holster their guns.

* * *

Pulling up outside Carlos and Veale's last known address, the three detectives and the writer put their Kevlar vests on before Ryan and Esposito go round the back of the property, Castle and Beckett staying round the front.

Entering the building, Beckett shouts "NYPD, PUT YOUR WEAPONS DOWN AND YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD" Ryan echoing her words from the back of the property.

Ignoring her command, the five men in the house pull out their guns and begin to fire at the detectives, Beckett dives for cover behind a chest of drawers beside her, pulling Castle down with her. She turns to her husbands and presses her phone into his hands. "Go outside and call for back-up." She watches as he nods and slips back out the front door and heads towards her cruiser.

Beckett looks around the room, taking in her surroundings. She spies some metal vases stood on top of the chest she is crouched behind, a plan forming in her head. She reaches up and takes the one closest to her, throwing out to draw out the two shooters. As she hears them begin to fire their guns, she kneels up and shoots them both in the chest. She hears Ryan and Esposito both shout "Clear!" as they make their way through the house towards her.

Before she has the chance to respond, an arm reaches around her waist, another holding a cloth to her face. She tries to kick out, to scream, anything to get someone's attention, to save herself, but she feels herself become weaker and weaker as the darkness surrounds her and slips into unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm sorry it's a week late but I had to use my usual writing time last week to write an assignment for my Media course and I've been working on a group presentation thats worth 40% of my grade for my Creative Writing course which is to be presented tomorrow - my uni work has to come first I'm affraid.**

**The restaurants Paradou and Pastis, mentioned in the last section, are real restaurants in NYCs meat packing district and I have no idea who owns them, but it's not me - I also have no idea what the food is like at either place as I have never been to NY.**

**Also, I've had a few people saying that with Beckett being captain, she wouldn't be as involved in the case as I've written her to be. I know this is true of most captains but I believe that just because she's been promoted and it's not common for people in her postion, she won't stop being so involved, she will want to continue fighting for justice, I don't think she'd be like this with every case but she would definitely be more involved than is normaly seen for a captain. This is just my opinion however.**

**As usual, let me know of any mistakes I've made and I will correct them as soon as possible.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 5:**

Her body is numb, her surroundings are non-existent, and she's scared; she's scared for her life, her son's life, and her family's life. What is she going to do without them? What are they going to do without her? She cannot leave them, not now, nor ever. She pulls against the ropes binding her wrists together, but nothing, not even the pain she expected. Her senses are suddenly returned as cold water is poured over her, her eyes flinging open at the chill running through her veins. "What do you want Veale?" She slurs, not expecting any sort of answer from him.

"I want a lot of things: money, power, women, just to name a few." He smirks at her, enjoying having the small amount of power he has over the infamous Kate Beckett.

"What do you want with me?" She hissed, finally feeling the pain of the rope burning against her skin.

"With you? Well, you see, I killed a man; but you already know that don't you? You found my finger prints on the gun. However, there are men in prison that want me dead so I'm afraid being arrested isn't an option." He tells her.

"What am I supposed to do? I can't let you get away with killing an innocent man."

"Well you're the captain of the precinct running the investigation are you not?" She continues to glare at him. "You can stop the investigation. You _will_ stop the investigation."

"Or what?"

He laughs at this, choosing his words carefully so as to cause maximum damage. "Or I will end your son's life."

* * *

"Back-ups on the way." Castle says as he re-enters the property. He looks up when he is met with silence. A brief flash of panic rushes through his body before he remembers that they're not alone, that nothing will have happened to her, she will only have gone through to the back to see Ryan and Esposito. Castle heads in the direction of the boys, not letting the niggling feeling of worry take over just yet. "You guys seen Beckett?"

"She not with you?" Ryan asks holstering his gun.

"No, she told me to go call for back-up when the firing started. She was gone when I got back; I thought she was through here with you guys." He can feel the panic take over, his heart beat increasing every second.

"Calm down bro, we'll find her." Esposito reassures the writer before he heads over to a group of uniforms, assigning each of them a different area of the house to search.

He nods absentmindedly, hundreds of scenarios running through his mind. _What if Veale has her? He's ruthless; he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. What if someone else has taken her? What if she's been murdered? What is he going to tell her father? What is going to tell James? What is going to do without her?_ Castle sinks down onto a chair at the kitchen table, resting his head in hands, trying to imagine what his life would be like without her by his side.

"Anything?" He asks as the boys re-enter the kitchen almost half an hour later. He feels his heart break as watches them both shake their heads.

"Why don't you head home to your boy? We'll call you as soon we get a lock on her location." Ryan tells the writer.

"Thanks guys." He smiles up at his friends, glad at least they were there for him.

* * *

"DADDY!" James screams at the top of his lungs, flinging his arms around his father's legs. "Where's mommy?"

Castle breaks down at his sons words, his family will not be the same until she is back home where she belongs.

"Richard? What's happened?" Martha asks, concerned as she notes her sons emotional state and the lack of her daughter in law. "Where's Kate?"

"She- She's been taken. They've taken her and I don't know where she is. She told me to go call for back up and I did and when I returned she was gone and no one can find her and I don't know what to do. What am I supposed to do without her?" Castle cries, pulling his son tight into his body, looking for all the comfort he can find.

"Mommy's not coming back?" The young boy's eyes fill with tears as his bottom lip starts to quiver.

"You listen to me James Alexander Castle; they are going to find her, safe and sound. Not including your mother, Uncle Ryan and Uncle Esposito and are the best police men in this city and they are not going to stop until she is home with us. Okay?" Martha re-assures her grandson, resting her hand on his shoulder and squeezing slightly. "Now how about you and daddy build a fort here in the living room and stay up until stupid o'clock in the morning watching those films you both like?"

The small boy nods against his father's chest, tears silently running down his cheeks. Martha's heart breaks slightly as she takes in the sight of her broken boys. _I hope to god that I'm right. Ryan and Esposito better find her, and fast. They aren't going to be able to last too long without her._ She thinks, knowing she is becoming more and more reliant on the captain herself.

Castle watches as his mother excuses herself before he turns to his son and says "Why don't you go get some DVDs for us to watch while I get all the sheets, pillows, and blankets we need for this fort?" James nods slowly before he detaches himself and turns towards the cabinet by the TV. The writer sighs as he watches his son's slow movements, _my mother better be right._

* * *

"Hey Ryan, come look at this." Esposito calls from his desk, without looking away from the documents on the screen in front of him.

"What do you got?" Ryan asks, pulling his chair up behind his partner.

"According to this, Veale leases an apartment above Paradou on Little West 12th Street. The Owner of Pastis just across the street reported a man matching Veale's description carrying what looked like a hot brunette with a pretty banged up head into the property." He reads the report from the screen.

"That's her." The Irish detective exclaims, already half way to dialling the writer to let him know they'd found his wife.

"_Castle_." He answers, not having looked at the caller ID.

"It's Ryan, we got a location."

"_What's the address? I'll meet you there."_ Ryan relays the address to him before he hangs up and follows his partner out of the precinct.

Arriving outside the French restaurant, the two detectives see the writer pacing on the sidewalk. Approaching him, they hand over his vest before leading him and the SWAT team into the building to save their captain.


End file.
